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him good as well as bad, bad as well as good.” He reported with approval the
opinion of Ferdinand of Aragon, that “times were superior to brains, and that
therefore one should judge things day by day, hour by hour.” (Bertelli, II, p. 912.)
The same report also mentions the opinion that Aliviano, the Spanish general
operating in Italy, succeeded because “the times favored his actions.” ( Ibid.). In
another report he wrote that according to Cesare Borgia, 1502 was not a good
year for subjects who rebel. ( Ibid., p. 649). He also reported that Julius II’s
coronation was postponed, on the advice of his astrologers, for a more propitious
time (Ibid., p. 683). And in the war of Florence against Pisa, Machiavelli was
advised by the Chancery on what exact time hostilities should commence:
“Thursday being the day to take possession of Pisa, under no circumstances
should Florentines enter the city before 12.30. If Thursday is not suitable, Friday
is the nest best—but only after 13.00 and not before 12.30.” (Martelli, p. 1107).
Finally, drawing a normative principle from all this, he opines that “a prince
succeeds who adapts his way of proceeding [temperament] to the quality of the
times, and conversely one does not succeed whose procedure is out of harmony
with the times.” (The Prince, ch. 25).
The questions of temperament and the quality of times brought
astrological natural science and medicine together. The astrologer did the
calculations and issued the warnings appropriate for the acting person. The norm
was, only if temperament and the quality of the times harmonized could the
action be successful. There are three texts that are crucial here, and reading
them together would yield the maximum benefit. They are the so-called
Convention